You are here

Setting the record straight

Setting the record straight

Former Bartlesville Douglass High School Dragon lineman Bill Burgess acts Saturday as team spokesman, during the Sixth Annual Bartlesville Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Celebration. Burgess played on the 1955 Dragon all-black football team that finished as co-state champion with Frederick. Several surviving members of the team attended the induction, which took place at the Hilton Garden Inn. Mike Tupa/Examiner-Enterprise

Although English poet Geoffery Chaucer penned this phrase — which became to be known as “better late than never” — approximately 627 years ago, it had direct relevance to last Saturday’s Bartlesville Athletic Hall of Fame 2013 Induction Celebration.

It had direct connection to Bill Burgess and his Douglass Dragon teammates — who had to wait nearly six decades before receiving their due reward as one of the greatest football squads in Bartlesville history.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Burgess told the well-dressed and well-fed audience at the Hilton Garden Inn, after he and a handful of 70-something teammates took the podium — some limping and shuffling, at least one using a cane — to accept enshrinement in the Bartlesville HOF. “I just want to thank everyone for allowing us here, and I hope that the spirit of all the other players that helped achieve this award are watching. As I was sitting here at the dinner table, looking at the names of so many (teammates) who have passed on and I’m just glad that some of us are still able to get up and hobble up here.”

Shortly after, the audience stood and gave a standing ovation to these boys of autumn from long, long ago…

America was a different place, in some ways, back in the mid-1950s. Benign — but very real — segregation defined many aspects of the relationship between blacks and whites.

Bartlesville proved no exception. The black kids attended Douglass High School; the rest went to College High.

It was in that atmosphere the 1955 Douglass Dragons football miracle came to be.

“It was a trying time for us,” explained Burgess, during an interview Saturday. “Being a black kid in those days, times were tough. To have a football team that turned out like we did … was something to be proud of.”

Prior to the campaign, the biggest question about Dragon football was whether or not it would have enough athletes to field a competitive squad.

“We didn’t expect anything because we didn’t think we had enough to claim as a football team,” said Burgess, who played on the line. “Sometimes we had to play both sides, offense and defense, because on not getting enough kids to come out and play. … We didn’t have the choices to choose from. But we had a good time.”

In fact, one of the Dragon veterans, Venson Cumby, nearly left to become the first black football player at College High.

But, at the end of his one-day tryout at Col-Hi, Cumby decided to return to Douglass because there was no guarantee he would be the starting quarterback.

Even though the Dragons still didn’t know how good they’d be, they plunged, with enthusiasm and optimism, into the campaign — and with a camaraderie that fostered unity.

“There were some you might say you were better athletes,” said Burgess. “I wasn’t a star runningback or quarterback, but we all played as a team and we got along well. That was a big part of it — guys trying to accomplish something together instead of an individual.”

The Dragons ripped undefeated through the Verdigris Valley Conference schedule and crashed through the playoffs with equal success.

But, they never got a chance to play for the state title.

The Bartlesville Board of Education balked at funding travel expenses for the Dragons to travel to Frederick for the championship showdown.

The association declared the Dragons and Frederick as co-state champions.

On Saturday — almost 58 years to the day since they ended their storybook season — the Dragons finally got their due.

Whatever they accomplished during the fall of 1955, part of it was for the town they loved.

“This is great,” Burgess said during the interview. “The only thing I can compare it to is when Obama got elected. This has been a long time coming, but I just feel grateful that I lived to see it because it (induction in the HOF) was the thing that was the farthest from my mind … trying to remember back 60 years ago and what you were doing and the importance of it — just playing football and trying to win and represent Douglass with what little they had and to achieve something like that for the city of Bartlesville is just overwhelming.”

None of it would have been possible without Charles “Cool City” Smith.

At the mention of Smith’s name, Burgess’ face sprouted an ear-to-ear smile and a chuckle escaped his mouth.

“You just have to give him the credit because he was a different individual,” Smith said about the former Dragons’ head coach. “He had little sayings you just wouldn’t expect to come out. He built the team. He encouraged the team.”

If not for Smith’s unabashed prodding, Burgess might never have played Dragon football.

“I was always a pretty good-sized guy, but I wasn’t going to play football,” Burgess said. “I was too cool for that. But, he used to embarrass me in class, before the girls, so that kind of got me out on the football field.”

Those who suited up for Smith found him both to be a friend and a fervid taskmaster.

“He had a way of bringing you out and bringing out the best in you,” Smith said. “You just have to give him the credit. He probably had some ways that might not have been traditional among most coaches.”

One of Smith’s “teaching” methods revolved around a two-foot plank that Burgess labeled as an “encouragement board.”

“If you wasn’t getting off the line, he kind of got behind you and, when they play was called, he persuaded you with this board and you got off the line,” Burgess said, followed by a laugh.

During his remarks to the audience, Burgess also recalled when Smith taught him the true meaning of the agony of defeat — or, perhaps more appropriately, the agony of the feet.

The incident occurred when the Dragons traveled to Sand Springs for a game.

Upon arrival, Burgess discovered he had no shoes.

‘I was sitting there and the coach came along and said, ‘what’s the matter?’ and I said ‘Coach, I don’t have any shoes.’ He said, ‘I didn’t bring you down here to watch a game. You’re going to play if you have to wrap a towel around your feet.’”

Burgess’ feet have long since healed — but the memories remain tender nearly six decades later.

“It’s been an enjoyable evening,” Burgess said toward the end of his public remarks. “On behalf of the team, I would just like to thank you, not only for recognizing us but recognizing a time of hardship and recognizing a separate school and the Dragon team.”

Rules for posting comments

Comments posted below are from readers. In no way do they represent the view of Stephens Media LLC or this newspaper. This is a public forum.

Comments may be monitored for inappropriate content but the newspaper is under no obligation to do so. Comment posters are solely responsible under the Communications Decency Act for comments posted on this Web site. Stephens Media LLC is not liable for messages from third parties.

IP and email addresses of persons who post are not treated as confidential records and will be disclosed in response to valid legal process.

Do not post:

Potentially libelous statements or damaging innuendo.

Obscene, explicit, or racist language.

Copyrighted materials of any sort without the express permission of the copyright holder.

Personal attacks, insults or threats.

The use of another person's real name to disguise your identity.

Comments unrelated to the story.

If you believe that a commenter has not followed these guidelines, please click the FLAG icon below the comment.